CITY MAN FOUND DEAD IN HOME

A rare summer streak, at least by Hartford's standards, came to an end Wednesday when city police officials responded to their first apparent homicide case in more than five weeks.

The discovery of an elderly man in his Wethersfield Avenue apartment marked the first time since June 3 that Hartford homicide detectives have been forced to open a new murder investigation.

While the official cause of death and other details remained unconfirmed Wednesday night, police officials said they expected the death of 72-year-old Margaro Hernandez to be counted as the city's 14th homicide of the year.

Compared to last summer, when the homicide rate soared in May, June and July, this summer has been relatively free of murder and gunplay. In 2001, police responded to 13 homicides during the three-month span in a year that ended with 25 homicides. This year, there have been five homicides in May, June and July.

Police have attributed the drop in violent crime to stepped-up enforcement, which they say has disrupted the local drug trade and kept criminals on edge. Still, Hartford has the highest homicide rate of any city in the state, far ahead of New Haven, which has had two so far this year, and Bridgeport, which has had five.

Hernandez was found Wednesday afternoon by a group of teenagers who became suspicious when the man did not come out to greet them as he usually did that time of day. The teens also found his apartment window open, prompting even more concern, police said.

Carlos Santos, 13, who lives in another unit at the New Englander apartment building at 217 Wethersfield Ave., said one of his friends crawled through the rear window in Hernandez's first-floor apartment and found the body on the living room floor.

The friend let Santos inside, and they called police about 1 p.m., he said. Police said the victim was found face-down with a cloth around his mouth. Investigators with the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner are trying to determine when Hernandez died, but police said it appears the death happened shortly after midnight Wednesday.

"It looked like he had been there a long time," said Santos.

About 6 p.m. Wednesday, police obtained a search warrant to explore Hernandez's apartment. Outside, more than three dozen of Hernandez's friends and family huddled on the sidewalk, some who cried when they heard the news.

"He was just an old man from Puerto Rico who never hurt anybody," said son-in-law Manuel Moreno. He said Hernandez had seven children and was married for more than 20 years before his wife died five years ago.

Records show Hernandez was convicted of drug possession and sales in Hartford seven years ago, and police sources and neighborhood residents said he was widely known for operating black market sales of liquor and narcotics.

Police said Hernandez had been the victim of at least one robbery several years ago, when an unidentified man stole cash from his apartment.

Lt. Paul Hammick, head of the police department's major crimes division, said it's not clear why Hernandez died, but added that robbery is being pursued as a possible motive.

The most recent homicide before Wednesday happened on June 3, when 26-year-old Jason Crawley was found shot in the head at an apartment at 388 Vine St. Crawley's killing remains unsolved.